Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Fr. Vincent Sampietro CSP (+)


Fr. Sampietro was the oldest living Paulist, and the longest ordained Paulist priest. He died today in Portland (OR), at the age (I believe) of 95.

I never met him, but had heard of him through others. I can only imagine what a life he must have lead, and how much he must have witnessed, in the community, in the Church and in the world.

I dug up this photo from the Novitiate album (which goes back to 1923) of the class of 1939... Fr. Sampietro, according to some, is the thin-faced guy in the middle of the back row. (The number of names on the photo don't match the number of men in the back row.)

Requiescat in pace.

2 comments:

Susan Rose Francois, CSJP said...

Fr Sam was great. A friend from Portland just let me know he'd passed away.

My favorite Fr. Sam image is of him kneeling down - he must have been in his early 90's by that time - to bless a rosary for a little girl who was looking up at him with this big eyes.

The man had a heart of gold. He grew up in the parish of St Philip Neri in Portland. He will be missed.

Anonymous said...

Just met Father Sam a couple of times but I was so impressed with him. He was so saintly and was able to help with any issues.

From my way of thinking, Father Sam is in Heaven right now.

What an honor to have met him.